Sarah+Messinger

On April 25, 1899, Sarah Messinger, age 30, died in St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago from an abortion performed by Marie Kampfer. Sarah died on the day the abortion was performed.

Kampfer, whose profession is not listed, was held for $5,000 bond by Coroner's Jury. Most Chicago abortionists of that era were physicians or midwives.

I have no information on overall maternal mortality, or abortion mortality, in the 19th century. I imagine it can't be too much different from maternal and abortion mortality at the very beginning of the 20th Century. Note, please, that with issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more on this era, see [|Abortion Deaths in the 19th Century]. For more on pre-legalization abortion, see [|The Bad Old Days of Abortion] Sources:


 * [|Homicide in Chicago Interactive]

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